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Substrate: Abies balsamea. On large masses of male cone bases from 2 years ago.

Habitat: High tide line along sandy beach, at the edge of a mature Picea rubens, Abies balsamea, Betula papyrifera, B. cordifolia forest. Alnus alnobetula abundant along high tide line.

Description: Discomycete. Stromata arising from the old points of attachment of male cones, black, globose with a central depression. Apothecia erumpent through the rind of the sclerotia, pale brown, furfuraceous, substipitate, with incurved margins, hymenium dark brown. Ectal excipulum of swollen, thin-walled, brown textura prismatica, medullary excipulum of loose, hyaline textura intricata. Subhymenium indistinct. Margin composed of thin-walled, brown, parallel hyphae. Paraphyses sparsely septate, sparsely branched, brown, giving the hymenium a distinct yellow-brown colour in cross section, thin-walled, 2.2-3.8mu wide, with swollen apices becoming 6.9-7.7mu wide, apical encrustations not observed. Asci unitunicate, 8-spored, uniseriate, 208-250x19-20mu, with an apical channel readily staining orange-brown in J, 3.1-4.0x6.0-9.2mu. Ascospores hyaline, ellipsoid-fusiform, often with one or both ends tapered to a point, 32-36x16-17mu, thin-walled and smooth-walled, lacking a gelatinous sheath.

Notes: Causes irregular density of male cones on branch tips, but this usually does not kill the branch.

Identification Reference: Sutherland et al. (1987) Cone and seed diseases of North American conifers

a rather distinctive species that is recognized by the production of darkly pigmented "corn on the kob" shaped conidia in a sporodochia on wet rotten wood

the Conidia of this collection measured 45 - 115 x 20 - 28 and were fuscous to dark brown

this description overlap B. lingula but the latter produce obclavate conidia

Finally! After all these years, I am able to see this peculiar species!

Found growing on wet, rotten, wood of Populus tremuloides

synnemata, isolate, +- indeterminate, white, with transluscent stipe. Clamp connection at some septa. Conidiogenesis not observed. Conidia, hyaline, flat, formed with four symmetrical lobes, giving it the appearance of a Four-leaf clover or a poppy flower. Conidia probably attached flat on the top of the conidiophore. Conidia measure 9 - 12µm in length. and about 4-6µm in height.

Conidia, rarely, with 5 lobes, perhaps finding one is a sign of good luck

The distinctive conidia, synnematous conidiomata and clamps connection make this species unique

On Trametes versicolor. Turns dark purple in KOH, then fades to red. Ascospores warted, 1-septate, apiculate with pointy projections, 16-25 x 4-5.5µm. Conidiospores broadly ellipsoid, 1-septate, 12-15 x 7.5-8µm.

@georgeg any thoughts welcome - I don't have any experience with this group and interested in opinions!

Asci 4-spored. Spores ellipsoid, ~23 um x 10um. Seems to key to the group Octospora gemmicola var. tetraspora, O. itzerottii, O. leucoloma var. tetraspora using this key:
http://www.octospora.de/pdf/key_main_groups.pdf

little sporodochial anamorph on a twich of Populus sp. (probably).

Sporodochia up to 0.5 mm wide, effuse or even cupulate, vivid yellow, gelatinous when hydrated.

Conidiophore arise from a darkly pigmented basal stroma, conidiophore branched, somewhat phiallidic. Conidiogenesis unclear, conidia produced apicaly from elongated +- phialide like conidiogenous cells, might also produce a short bowl shaped collarette, but this is somewhat unclear.

Conidia smooth, globose 1.7-2.2

This organism seem to be quite similar to other collection using this name on the web. as I understand, the genus Dendrodochium is considered synonymous with Clonostachys. However, I do not believe this specific species is congeneric with Clonostachys, but as far as I know, it have not been studied recently, and its relationship with other species is unknown